


Operation Ho Ho Ho

by tayryn



Category: James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: F/M, Older Woman/Younger Man, Romance, match making
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 10:55:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21968185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tayryn/pseuds/tayryn
Summary: The head of MI6 decides to play matchmaker.
Relationships: James Bond/Female M, James Bond/M, James Bond/M | Olivia Mansfield
Comments: 4
Kudos: 28





	Operation Ho Ho Ho

~*~

_You are cordially invited to the annual SIS Christmas Eve Gathering._

Olivia Mansfield, former head of MI6, scowled at the embossed invitation in her hand.

She had hoped, having retired, that she would no longer be required to attend the annual get together between the two SIS divisions. Not that she’d attended many over the years she ran MI6 thanks to some important matter suddenly, and rather conveniently coming up that required her attention.

Her eyes dropped to the postscript in Mallory’s precise handwriting.

_“Your presence has been requested by the Minister.”_

“Shit.”

She tossed the invitation onto the table and swore again.

She’d need an escort, she realized. She couldn’t attend this on her own.

A name whispered through her mind; she closed her eyes and shook her head.

No.

That would not work.

She scowled, a surge of anger swelling inside her.

Opening her eyes, Olivia crossed to her drinks cart. She poured herself a scotch, then tossed it back. 

Why did she have to think of him now?

A soft, derisive snort echoed in her mind.

Her eyes closed again, and she sighed, the anger leaving her as quickly as it had come, only to replaced with an overwhelming sadness.

She missed him.

More than she thought she would.

She felt her body flush as she recalled the angry exchange between them. 

But she had done what she had to do. For both their sakes.

Sad blue eyes flashed through her mind, and her breath hitched. Her eyes slowly opened, and she was surprised to feel tears on her cheeks. In her heart of hearts, she did not really believe sending him away was what was best – for either of them. She didn’t then, and she didn’t now.

But she’d had to do it. 

He’d deserved better.

Placing the glass back on the cart, she reached into her pocket for her mobile. Taking a deep breath, she slowly released it, then dialed a familiar number.

~*007*~

Standing in the shadows, James Bond glanced around the room, wondering, not for the first time, why he was here.

He usually found a way to get out of attending, or some last-minute assignment would come up, and he’d be sent out of the country. But nothing had come up this year, and no matter how much he’d pleaded with Mallory, James had not been able to get out of attending the SIS Christmas Eve gathering.

He sighed.

He really did not want to be here. He was not feeling very sociable and hadn’t for the last several months. Not since… he pushed the thought away.

James shook his head. No. He wouldn’t think of her now. Not tonight.

That would be a first, his heart whispered. When are we not thinking about her?

James swore under his breath.

All these months later, and he still hadn’t been able to exorcise her from his thoughts or his heart, and he knew he probably never would.

“Fuck!” he swore again, and closed his eyes, scrubbing his hand over his face.

Suddenly, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. James lowered his hand and looked out into the ballroom.

She’d just walked into the room.

On the arm of a rather distinguished looking older gentleman. 

James’ eyes narrowed as he watched her, watched them, make their way to their table.

It was going to be a long evening.

**~*007*~**

“Olivia, there’s a man over there staring at you.”

“Is that so?” she asked, knowing full well who it was. She’d felt his eyes on her the moment she’d walked into the Christmas party on William’s arm. 

“Yes.” William nodded. “And he doesn’t look happy.”

Olivia slowly turned her head.

Their eyes met and locked.

Even from this distance, Olivia could feel the heat in James’ ice-blue gaze.

Christ, I’ve missed him, the thought flitted through her mind unbidden.

“Olivia, who is he?”

With a sigh, Olivia blinked, breaking the connection, then slowly turned back to William. “A former employee of mine.”

“One of our agents?”

“Yes. A Double O.”

“Ah. That explains it, then.”

“Explains what?”

“That he looks like he’s imagining all the ways he could kill me.”

**~*007*~**

Tanner stood beside Moneypenny, both watching the couple on the dance floor with concerned looks on their faces. This had been going on all evening. If James wasn’t watching M, then M was watching James.

It was apparent that something had happened between his friend and their former boss.

“I thought for sure, after Skyfall, when James resigned to look after her, that they’d finally get together,” Tanner said.

“As did I,” Moneypenny said. “So, what do you think happened?”

“I don’t know, but it’s obvious they need to work it out.”

“Yeah.”

“Something needs to be done about those two.”

Eve and Bill turned at the familiar voice to find their boss, the current M, standing behind them.

“What? I’m not blind,” Mallory said. “I called it the first day I met Bond.”

Tanner nodded. “True.”

All three turned back to the dance floor to watch the drama unfolding before them.

“Do you think they’re aware of how obvious they’re being?” Eve asked as they watched James stare at Olivia over his dance partner’s shoulder.

“No,” Tanner replied, noting how Olivia did the same when James twirled in the opposite direction.

“So, what are we going to do about it?” Eve asked, looking at Mallory. “Do you have any ideas, sir?”

“As a matter of fact,” Mallory replied. “I do.”

**~*007*~**

Olivia rolled over, snuggling into the warm body next to her, sighing contentedly when strong arms wrapped around her, and pulled her closer.

“James,” she murmured sleepily, nestling deeper into his embrace.

James!

Her body tensed and her eyes snapped open.

Shit, she thought, as she realized she was, indeed, in bed with James Bond.

She immediately moved out of his arms and pushed him away; feeling the loss of his warmth immediately.

“What the…” James began, his voice hoarse from sleep, “Olivia?”

Olivia scrambled out of the bed, relived to find she was still clothed. In fact, she was still wearing the gown she’d worn to the SIS Christmas Eve gathering. Glancing at James, she saw that he was still wearing his tuxedo, minus the jacket.

“What is the meaning of this?”

“Why are you asking me?” he grumbled, as he sat up, and swung his legs over the side of the bed, putting his back to her.

“This is not your doing?”

“Of course not,” James replied, scrubbing his hands over his face. He stood up a few moments later and turned to face her. “If I was, we wouldn’t still be dressed, and we sure as hell wouldn’t have been sleeping.”

Olivia fought against the flush she could feel at the images (the memories, her mind whispered) his words brought to mind.

They stared at each other.

“Q wouldn’t have the nerve,” James said thoughtfully. “Moneypenny wouldn’t either,” he continued, then ventured, “Tanner?”

Olivia shook her head. “No. He wouldn’t…” her voice trailed off. “Would he?”

“No,” James admitted, then glanced around. “Where the hell are we?”

“I believe we’re in one of Six’s safe houses,” she told him, then noticed the odd expression on his face. “What are you thinking?”

“Mallory?”

“Why would Mallory do this?”

James shrugged. “We’ve eliminated everyone else. Unless there’s something about your date you’re not telling me.”

Olivia scowled. “Be serious, 007.”

James returned her glare, then shook his head, and made his way around the bed, heading for the door.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m having a look around,” he tossed back over his shoulder, as he walked out of the bedroom. “Stay here.”

“Like hell, I will!” she replied, and followed him.

“Bloody stubborn woman,” James muttered.

“I heard that.”

“Good,” he grumbled, stalking toward the front door. He turned the handle, pulled on the door but it wouldn’t budge. He pushed on the door, then tried with his shoulder. 

“Try the keypad,” Olivia suggested.

“Having the code would help,” he remarked.

“For Christ’s sake, get out of the way!” She pushed him aside.

“Sure your codes will still work? You’re not M anymore.”

Olivia ignored him as she reached up and began pressing the keys. The scowl on her face deepened, as with each combination of numbers, the door remained sealed. She swore under her breath several times before finally smacking the keypad, then storming away.

With a bemused expression on his face, James followed her into the lounge.

“Don’t say it!” she told him, warning clear in her voice.

James simply held his hands up in mock surrender, then glanced around when he heard a series of beeps. Spotting the computer on the desk in the corner, he crossed the room to take a closer look, and found the messaging program open and flashing, indicating a waiting chat request.

He reached out to touch the screen, opening the chat.

Mallory’s face filled the screen.

James and Olivia shared a quick glance.

“What is the meaning of this, Mallory?” Olivia demanded.

“To be blunt, we’ve had enough,” Mallory replied.

“We?”

Mallory gestured off screen, and seconds later, Tanner and Moneypenny stepped into view behind him. “We.”

Olivia’s eyes narrowed.

“All evening long we watched the two of you dance around each other. We don’t know what’s wrong or what has happened, but we’re tired of seeing the two of you hurting. So, in the spirit of the season, we’ve decided to do something about it.”

“By locking us up together?”

“Yes.” Mallory nodded. “You’ll be there until you resolve whatever it is that’s happened between you one way or another.” He paused and looked back and forth between them. “The safe house is fully stocked, and the doors, as you have already discovered, are secured and can only be released by my authorization.”

James saw Olivia scowl.

“When you’ve reached a resolution, contact me. Consider it a Christmas gift from the three of us,” Mallory told them, then ended the chat.

“Bastard!” Olivia swore, then turned on her heel, and stalked away.

Seconds later, James heard the bedroom door slam shut.

He sighed.

They weren’t getting out anytime soon.

Glancing at his watch, he saw that it was just after two in the morning. Whatever drug Mallory and his co-conspirators had slipped into their drinks had not been a strong one. He didn’t feel lethargic and foggy which told him they’d only given them enough to knock them out so they could get him and Olivia to the safe house.

He looked toward the bedroom. A part of him wanted to go after her, to find out why she had done it, but the other part, the part of him that was still hurting, refused to do it. He’d crawled back to her once before – after pouting in Turkey for three months – and he’d been right to do so. But not this time.

James shook his head, then wondered if Mallory had thought to include some Scotch with the provisions he’d supplied. 

With a final glance toward the bedroom, James made his way to the kitchen.

**~*007*~**

Olivia paced back and forth in the bedroom.

She was utterly furious.

With Mallory. With Tanner. With Moneypenny.

How dare they do this?

They had no idea what they were asking.

She stopped pacing just in front of the bed and sank down on it.

“Fuck!” Olivia swore, then sighed deeply.

She looked at the door. A small part of her hoped James would follow her; that he’d confront her about her decision. 

She shook her head.

No. She had to be strong.

What she’d done, she’d had to do. For both their sakes.

Still… “I miss him,” Olivia whispered in the quiet of the room.

After Skyfall, James had remained at her side, supporting her through every step of her recovery. From sitting vigil at her bedside after the surgery to remove the bullet and stone fragments from her hip, to helping her with her physical therapy. He’d even moved into her flat in order to be there for her and to continue aiding her in her recovery.

Olivia closed her eyes, and fell back onto the mattress, as the memories swamped her.

They’d grown so close, much closer than they had previously been, over the months following her surgery. 

So much time spent talking, getting to know one another, Olivia mused. Learning all the little things; all the little things they’d never had the chance to before. 

I fell in love with him, Olivia thought, then shook her head.

That wasn’t true.

“I was already in love with him,” she admitted quietly. “I just fell more in love.”

Her eyes slowly opened, and she sat up.

Glancing at her watch, she realized it was still very early in the morning; only half past two. She was tired, she realized, and obviously still feeling the effects of whatever drug they’d dosed her with, but she wasn’t quite ready to try to sleep. She decided a drink, preferably some Scotch, would help.

Wondering if Mallory and his lackeys had thought to provide them with a change of clothes, she was dismayed to not see anything. Rising from the bed, she wandered over to the dresser, and pulled open the drawers. They were empty.

“Shit!” she swore, then headed for the ensuite, where she found two fluffy white robes hanging on the back of the door. “Better than nothing, I suppose,” she muttered, then began to remove her dress.

Ten minutes later, wrapped in one of the robes, Olivia opened the bedroom door and walked out of the bedroom. As she crept down the hall, she found herself hoping James was asleep or had gone into the safe house’s spare bedroom. Reaching the end of the hall, she saw him sitting on the sofa. 

Squaring her shoulders, she walked past him, through the living room to the kitchen. She stopped just inside the door when she saw a bottle of Scotch on the table, an empty glass beside it. She glanced back toward the living room, a faint smile tickling her lips. Of course he’d known.

Olivia opened the bottle, and poured a generous amount of the amber liquid into the glass. Replacing the cap, she placed the bottle back on the table, then curled her fingers around the glass. Lifting it from the table, she brought the glass to her lips and took a long swallow, closing her eyes as she felt it warm its way down her throat.

After taking a second small sip, Olivia turned, and cradling the glass to her chest, she left the kitchen to head back to the bedroom.

“I’ve missed you.”

The softly uttered words stopped her in her tracks just before she reached the hallway.

“Why did you do it, Olivia?”

“You know why.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw James shake his head. “I want to know the real reason. We shared something special that night. Something both of us have wanted for a long time.”

Olivia curled her hand into a fist, her nails biting into her palm at the pain she could hear in his voice. It was all she could do to not go to him; tell him she’d been wrong. But she couldn’t. 

“It was sex, James. That’s all it was,” she told him, glad he was not looking at her to see the lie in her eyes.

“Bullshit!” James replied. “You and I both know that’s not true.” He paused, then finished in a low voice, “We made love that night.”

“It was just sex,” Olivia said again.

“Fine. But you still haven’t answered my question. Why? Why did you do it, Olivia?”

Olivia sighed. “I told you why.”

“No. You lied to me.”

“I meant every word I said,” she told him, closing her eyes against the pain in her heart.

“You were lying.”

Olivia shook her head. “I wasn’t.”

“But you were.”

Olivia startled, her eyes opening in surprise, as his softly uttered words came from directly behind her. She then felt his arms snake around her; one wrapping around her waist, the other crossing over her breasts, his hand resting on her shoulder.

“I know, for a fact, you were. I saw it in your eyes that night, when we finally made love,” James whispered against her ear. “You love me.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It’s all that matters.”

She shook her head. “No. You deserve more than to be shackled with an old woman.”

“All I want, all I will ever need, or desire is right here in my arms,” James whispered in a hoarse voice, as he drew her back against his chest. “You can’t use your age as an excuse, Olivia. I don’t care that you’re older than me. I have never cared.”

“But you will.”

James shook his head. “You of all people know how precarious life can be, how dangerous. There are numerous ways either one of us can die, don’t kill us faster by denying us a life together. Not after all we have given in service to the Crown.”

“James…”

“I love you, Olivia,” he told her, brushing his thumb against the crook of her neck. “Can’t we just love each other, have a life together for however long either of us have? Don’t we both deserve that happiness now?”

Olivia closed her eyes, her heart and her mind warring with each other.

He had a point.

They had both sacrificed so much to Queen and country. Was it so wrong to now take a little something, a little happiness, for themselves?

James loved her.

He’d told her repeatedly the night they’d made love. He’d told her again the following morning when she’d realized she couldn’t give him the future he deserved, and sent him away.

He’d told again just moments before, asking her to take a chance on a life with him.

Olivia eased out his embrace just enough to turn to face him, and looked up at him, meeting his steady gaze.

She loved James.

She hadn’t told him that night; too overwhelmed with emotion to get the words out. She hadn’t told him the following morning either as she’d broken both their hearts.

She had to tell him now. Her heart demanded it.

That, and the life he promised.

“Yes,” Olivia said softly. “We do deserve that happiness now.” She laid her hands on his chest, then slid one up to cradle his cheek. “I do love you, James. More than I can possibly say.”

The smile that lit James’ face brought tears to her eyes, and caused her heart to beat frantically in her chest. Olivia knew in that moment she’d finally made the right decision. 

“Olivia…” he whispered, raising his hands to grasp her face. He stroked his thumbs over her lips, whispering her name again, before lowering his head. “I love you, too,” he murmured before pressing his lips to hers.

Both moaned softly as mouths opened, allowing tongues to meet. They pulled each other closer; a silent promise to never let each other go again.

After several minutes of deep, loving kisses, they finally parted, both panting softly for breath. Olivia held his gaze for a moment, then with a small smile playing about her lips, she turned in his arms. Reaching back, she grasped his hand in hers, lacing their fingers, then with a gentle tug, she led him toward the bedroom.

~*007*~

Olivia rolled over, snuggling into the warm body next to her, sighing contentedly when strong arms wrapped around her, and pulled her closer.

“James,” she murmured sleepily, nestling deeper into his embrace.

James!

Her eyes slowly opened, and she pushed herself up to gaze down at him.

A large smile graced her face.

After leading him back to the bedroom, they’d proceeded to make up for lost time, making love until both had fallen asleep in each other’s arms, exhausted and sated less than an hour before.

She’d have to send Mallory a note to thank him, as well as Tanner and Moneypenny. If not for their interference, she and James wouldn’t be here now.

“Olivia?”

Olivia blinked to find James looking sleepily up at her.

“Are you all right?”

“Yes.”

“You sure?”

She nodded. “I was thinking that we should let the others know their plan worked.”

“We should,” James agreed, then grinned. “In a few days.”

Olivia chuckled. “Well, Mallory did say this was our Christmas present.”

“Exactly,” James agreed, tugging her back into his arms, then rolled them over so that he was covering her body with his. He framed her face in his large hands. “Merry Christmas, Olivia.”

Olivia smiled up at him, parting her thighs to cradle his hips. She reached up to feather her fingers through is hair, before curling her hand around the back of his head. “Merry Christmas, my love.”

**~*007*~**

“Sir,” Tanner said, as he entered Mallory’s office. “It’s been three days. Shouldn’t we check on them?”

Mallory shook his head. “No. I have a feeling they’re fine.”

Tanner smiled.


End file.
